Ultraphosphates break decades-old anti-branching rule
Discovery of elusive branched phosphates’ unexpected stability means they could have played a role in prebiotic chemistry
For the first time, scientists have synthesised branched phosphates, called ultraphosphates, finding them to be stable for up to several days in water despite what the 1950 anti-branching rule states.
Polyphosphates consist of tetrahedral phosphate units, PO4, linked by oxygen atoms. They can be linear, branched or cyclic. Linear polyphosphates like adenosine triphosphate, ATP, are found in all living organisms and have been well studied. However, the properties and reactivity of chemically related ultraphosphates remained unknown.